The in basket: Barbara Westfall writes, “My husband and I are new residents in the Tracyton area. When turning right onto Tracyton Boulevard from Bucklin Hill, there is a sign, two signs actually, on the same pole. One says Speed Bumps, the other says 20 mph.
“Now, does this mean you need to go 20 mph when going over the speed bumps, or is the whole road 20 mph until you are finished with all speed bumps?”
The out basket: The signs approaching the speed humps are yellow advisory signs that suggest a comfortable speed for crossing the rises, and can be ignored if you think otherwise. Speed limit signs are white with black markings and the one that says 30 mph just as you turn from Bucklin Hill Road onto Tracyton Boulevard establishes the speed limit throughout the stretch with the speed bumps.
I was surprised to see the signs call them speed BUMPS. Those traffic calming devices are generally separated into speed bumps, the abrupt rises you see in mobile home parks, speed humps, the wider ones on most county roads and in shopping center parking lots, and speed tables, like those on Tracyton Boulevard, where the raised surface is large enough to contain most cars. The county must have decided drivers will understand the term speed bumps best.
